Something to Consider By Tracey Jenkins traceyljenks@yahoo.com
If you do not believe the Torah (the writings of Moses, aka, the Law) is applicable to our lives today, just look at what Yeshua says about it in John 5:46-47 : "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" And, Paul obviously has the same beliefs, because he confesses it in Acts 24:14 : "But I confess this to you: that according to the Way, which they call a sect, so I worship my father’s God, believing all the things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets." Think about it, if Paul taught against the Law (which are the instructions of God, that teach us how to live holy (set apart) lives, devoted to loving Him and others) why does he confess to believing it? If we believe, we obey. That is the essence of faith, is it not? James 1:25 tells us: "the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts- this person will be blessed in what he does". Psalms 119:1-176 is the longest psalm in the book, but please read what David has to say about the Law before you continue reading this message!
YHWH explains (in His Law) how He wants to be worshiped and how He wants His people to live holy (set apart) lives from the rest of the world. He explains how He wants His people to live together in unity, peace, and love. He made the rules, He is The Creator, and He can do whatever He wants. However, the Israelites just couldn’t get it! They were always falling into judgment because they were committing spiritual adultery by adopting the pagan practices of other nations, they rebelled, they were unwilling to listen, and they rejected His ordinances, profaned His Sabbaths, and did not follow His statutes. (Ezekiel 20:1-31) We, on the other hand, do have an advantage over the ancient Israelites. We have the Spirit of YHWH dwelling in us! Paul encourages us to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). We also have the New Covenant, of which Yeshua is the mediator (Hebrews 9:15), “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith YHWH, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33) See, the Law didn’t change; He just wrote it on a different tablet, our hearts. Paul speaks of this circumcision of the heart in Romans 2:1-29; you really need to read that entire chapter! Let me ask you one question about covenants; When YHWH makes a new one does the old one get abolished? If you say that it does, then you would have to say that YHWH is not faithful to His word! Every covenant He has ever made remains eternal! Do you remember Noah? How about Abraham? We are still waiting for the promises of that one now aren’t we? If these covenants still remain, why would the covenant made at Mt. Sinai between YHWH and His people, mediated by Moses, not still be valid? It is not rational to think that way, is it? “Know that YHWH your God is God, the faithful God, who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those that love him and keep his commands”(Deuteronomy 7:9). Do you really believe that YHWH would bring His chosen people out of bondage (Egypt) only to enslave them again to His Law? (Leviticus 26:13)I pray your reply is, "of course not". I know that Paul’s writings are hard to understand at times, but he was refuting Phariseeism (consisting of man-made laws, and traditions of men), asect ofJudaism (see Galatians 1:13-14).Judaism deviated from biblical truth, by adding to God’s word; i.e., the teachings of the Rabbi, the Talmud, etc.In Matthew 23:8, Yeshua tells us to call no one Rabbi.He is our only Rabbi and we are all brothers/sisters.A very large portion of the gospels quote Yeshua rebuking the Pharisee’sfor not obeyingYHWH’s laws, and instead, teaching asdoctrines thecommandments of men (Matthew 15:9).Peter even warns us about Paul’s writings being hard to understand and how the untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16).I believe Paul is trying to make the message of salvation through faith clear to Jews who were still trying to make the works of the Law their means of obtaining salvation. Think about it like this, are you willing to throw away (or consider irrelevant) the writings of Moses (actual words spoken by YHWH directly to His chosen people (Exodus 1:1-17) - and indirectly - through Moses), the writings of the Prophets (the words of YHWH spoken through the prophets to the people who were living in disobedience to the Torah, and who had adopted the pagan practices of other nations), and the actual words of Yeshua (the Son of YHWH and His Word made flesh), because of some verses in the writings of Paul that you don’t have a clear understanding of? Salvation is through Yeshua not Paul. Personally, I would rather throw away Paul’s writings than the rest of Scripture. But, that is just me. Thankfully, because of my current understanding of Paul’s epistles, I don’t even consider that…anymore. Believe me, at first, I certainly wanted to disregard everything Paul had written. But, I kept reminding myself, that his writings are there for a reason, and Scripture cannot contradict itself. So, I kept digging for understanding. And, as I studied more and more about Judaism, I began to understand more about who Paul was writing to and why. I believe that if we don’t understand the culture, we can’t possibly understand the language. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to say that I think I have knowledge that no one else has. Since I have begun this journey, I have realized there are LOTS of believers out there who have the same knowledge. And, most of them have come out of New Testament churches. I find these are people who seek truth and question the traditions (of men) that have been inherited and passed along from generation to generation. Many of the traditions of men originated from the Roman Catholic Church. “But an hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) Only having part of the truth is not Truth! In Matthew 7:21-23, Yeshua is obviously speaking to believers when He says; "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Do you know that the definition of iniquity is lawlessness?Transgression of the Law is defined as sin (1 John 3:4).The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).YES, Messiah paid our penalty for transgressing the Law (Isaiah 53:5)!However, contrary to what most people have been taught and/or choose to believe, The Messiah NEVER abolished the Law!That would have made Him a walking contradiction. Besides, don’t you think that something as important as the abolishment of the Law (The Word of YHWH) would have been prophesied of in the writings of the prophets? Don’t you believe that YHWH, who loves us so much, would warn us of the change in His instructions for living? Yeshua says in Matthew 5:17-19:"Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the Law until all things are accomplished.Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.But whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."I don’t think that heaven and earth have passed away, nor are all things accomplished. Here is an interesting analogy I like to use; if you get a speeding ticket and I go to the judge and pay your fine so that you don’t have to pay it yourself, does that mean the speed limit has been abolished? Furthermore, if you continued to disregard the speed limit law and kept accumulating fines because of your disobedience/rebellion, I would be insulted by your actions because I had tried to help you out, show you mercy, favor (or grace), kindness, and love. But there you are still continuing to break the law because you know I will pay the fine for you and you don’t have to pay the penalty of breaking the law. WOW, that is a major show of disrespect, is it not? See Hebrews 10:26-29. I know how I would feel, how about you? We should never feel obligated to do anything, but why would we not want to? We should want to obey out of love and gratitude for all that He has done for us. He is a good and faithful Father who loves us and wants to give us the best of everything! Are we willing to lose our life in order to gain it? Like it or not, the ENTIRE Word of YHWH (Genesis through Revelation), is about loving Him and others. That is the Law. Keeping the commandments teaches us how to love YHWH and our neighbor as ourselves according to His rules and regulations, not based on what we want to do or what we think is best or what is convenient to us and relevant to today. Contrary to popular belief, we should NEVER try to make the Word relevant to our lives, but we should make our lives relevant to the Word! I don’t believe that we are allowed to make our own rules for worshiping Him. Isn’t that what always got the ancient Israelites into trouble (remember the golden calf of Exodus 32:5)? Exodus 1:1-7 tells us that the Law reveals YHWH’s nature.As believers we should desire to live in concert with YHWH’s character, thereby using the Law is a guide for living.Our motive should never be to earn salvation, for that is solely by grace through faith, but to demonstrate the love ofMessiah in our hearts (“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” John 14:15). Moses said to YHWH, “If I have found grace (favor) in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, and I will know You and find grace (favor) in Your sight.”(Exodus 33:13) Therefore, the only way to know YHWH is to learn of His ways in His Law! If the idea of keeping the commandments bothers you, then maybe you should complain to the ONE whogave them to you. Not that it would do you much good, you see, He has already told us His commands are not too difficult or beyond our reach. (Deuteronomy 30:11) “For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden” (1 John 5:3). In Matthew 19:17, Yeshua says, "...If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." For those of you who have been concerned about me and the direction I have gone, I want you to know, The Foundation of my faith is truth as revealed in Yeshua, The Messiah, I also believe He is The Word made flesh (the Word that was in the beginning, from Genesis not Matthew),He is The Living Torah, He walked it, talked it, and taught it to His disciples, because He is it!His disciples taught it as well!The Messiah bears witness to the truth by obeying it. He would never disobey the Father. That would be sin, and we know that He was sinless! Go back to the beginningand read it for yourself, just like I am doing, from beginning to end, and in context!You will be amazed at what you find when you take away the preconceived ideas about the Law.And remember this, YHWH never changes (Malachi 3:6), His Word never changes (Matthew 24:35), and His Word cannot contradict itself because YHWH cannot lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man who changes His mind (1 Samuel 15:29)!In Psalms 89:34 YHWH says; “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament.His nature doesn’t change because He doesn’t change (Hebrews 13:7-8). Also, because some of you want to tell me how legalistic I have become, let me give you my definition of legalism- keeping the commandments, rules, and regulations of men that make up the religious systems of this world- leading to bondage. Now, let me give you my explanation of obedience- keeping the commandments of YHWH- leading to freedom and life (see Psalms 119:1-176). “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). So you see, I am not being legalistic, I am being obedient to my Father, whom I love more than the things of this world. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). Here is something else to think about, when the New Testament speaks of the Scriptures, it is always in reference to the Old Testament.The New Testament wasn’t written until years after the resurrection of Messiah.It wasn’t evenconsideredscripture until a few centuries later.Do you realize how much of the New Testament is actually direct quotes from the Old Testament?Please understand me; I am not trying to offend you by telling you these things.Do your homework and look all this up for yourself.I have spent months doing nothing else but searching the Scriptures for answers to questions and denominational doctrines that didn’t make any sense to me.SO MANY things that the New Testament church (and others too, I am not picking on any one of them specifically) teaches comesdirectly from Catholicism (the definitionof this word means universal, and that scares me becauseuniversalism is the popular theme of the world today, and isa trait of the political/religious beast described in Revelation 13:1-18).Most people don’t understand that Catholicism is paganism/ Babylonian sun god worship!In fact, the Catholic Church is the entity who thought to change the Sabbath from the 7th day to the 1st day- Sunday. (Ref. to The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p.50, 3rd ed, 1957)This is also where Christmas and Easter come from (Google it, I dare you).It is paganism! Ever wondered why those holidays aren’t mentioned in your Bible.Hmm, imagine that, theCatholic Churchclaiming enough authority to change even the Laws of The Almighty Himself (this is also prophesied in Daniel 7:25).Yes, I can back up my claims with evidence, or I wouldn’t say things like that.I have many legitimate sources for this information. Please understand me, I am angry with the lies, not the people.Listen to what Jeremiah says aboutthe lieswe have inherited in Jeremiah 16:19;"O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." I believe that Iwas deceived by false teachings and I want everyone to know, because I love you, and I don’t want you to be deceived either.The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) Don’t let him rob you of your blessings! In Revelation 22:14,Yeshua says;"Blessed are those who keep His commandments, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates."This is one of the very last things mentioned in His Word and I think itis very important!As a matter of fact, in the last days, worship will be the central issue. Have you read the book of Revelation lately? Just as adding to His word is deviating from the truth, so is taking away from it. Neither is truth and both will bring a curse from YHWH (Revelation 22:18-19). I have only used a few examples of scripture to back up my claims, there are MANY more.I pray that you will go back and read this again, searching the Scriptures to prove me wrong. We should be diligent in our study to present ourselves approved to the Father. (2 Timothy 2:15) Look carefully for yourself, and always remember, when what you are reading seems to contradict the rest of scripture, your understanding is at fault, because Scripture cannot contradict itself, dig deeper.Have fun treasure hunting!!!!!!! Truly, these are the days of Elijah, declaring the Word of the LORD.And these are the days ofyour servant, Moses, righteousness being restored.And though these are days of great trial, of famine, and darkness, and sword.I amthe voice in the desert crying;"Prepare ye the way of the LORD!" Your sister in the fellowship of our blessed Messiah,
Tracey
P.S.S. I am always here to talk to any one about any of this, and I am willing to hear any rebuttal that will come my way! I will continue to search the Scriptures for truth, as I feel we should never stop learning or ever get to a point where we feel like we already know everything there is to know. This has turned out to be quite an adventurous journey and a very scary one as this all began. It has been a great test of loyalty, faithfulness, and most of all love. I’m not there yet, but I have become willing to sacrifice everything for Him and His Word. That is what He wants of His children and it should be our goal. As we seek Him more, He reveals more. And there is always more to learn. If He is calling you closer, you will know. I am here praying for you, that you will find your way through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13). “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me” (John 6:44-45).
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.
